Bruins' win over Blackhawks overshadowed by Red Sox

They knew what to expect Thursday night at TD Banknorth Garden -- row upon row, section upon section of vacant seats.

Mike Loftus

They knew what to expect Thursday night at TD Banknorth Garden -- row upon row, section upon section of vacant seats.

There was nothing the Boston Bruins could do about the fact that their game against the Chicago Blackhawks played directly opposite the World Series across town. What they could control was making certain Chicago became the latest NHL team to learn that when you come to the Garden, you'd better expect a fight.

The Bruins won Thursday's war with their Original 6 opponent, 3-1, in a game marked by a ferocious, one-sided battle waged and won by their captain, Zdeno Chara.

Thoroughly annoyed that Chicago bit player David Koci (average ice time -- 4 minutes, 40 seconds per game) charged Boston's crease in the first period, then landed a decent poke at his head once gloves had been dropped, Chara connected with a punch that left Koci dazed, bleeding, and essentially finished for the evening.

Defense partner Aaron Ward suggested Chara's rage was the result of a season-plus of pressure and frustration at the uneven pace of the Bruins' reconstruction. Chara disagreed, claiming the incident was "just part of the game" -- although a fight hadn't been part of his game since March 21, 2006, near the end of his final season with Ottawa.

"You never mind those things happening, as long as your player doesn't get injured," Julien said after the B's improved to 6-3 for the season, 3-0 at home.

"I think we've got to be realistic. The exchange of those two players (both penalized for five minutes) isn't really a fair exchange. But at the same time, 'Z' got challenged, and he went after (Koci). It certainly gave us some momentum. I thought it really gave us some life."

And it should give opponents used to an easy night at the Garden a reason to think twice.

"It's something we've been preaching - being a presence at home, and being tough to play against," said Ward, whose breakout pass to P-J Axellson led to Glen Metropolit's third-period insurance goal. "When you've got a 6-foot-9, 270-pound guy running around, letting it be known that it's his building, a lot of people will listen."

If the building, which didn't seat the 10,290 who bought tickets, belonged to Chara (who's officially listed at 6-9, 255), the game belonged to Phil Kessel (two goals) and goalie Tim Thomas (26 saves), who surrendered one goal for the fourth time in five starts.

Kessel, according to Julien, may have considered the pre-game buildup of Chicago's teen rookie duo of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews (the only 'Hawk to beat Thomas, during a 5-on-3 power play) as "a pretty good challenge.

"We were hoping he was going to respond well," the coach said. "As you saw, when Phil is given an opportunity to score, he's a pretty gifted player in that area."

The B's should draw better tomorrow against Philadelphia, a game shifted to 4 p.m. to avoid another conflict with the Series.

The hope is that, over time, the Bruins can make theirs the games people don't want to miss.

"You want to do well at home, and you motivate yourself, because once the Red Sox win the World Series," Julien grinned, "hopefully we'll have enough wins us that fans are going to want to come see us play, as well."